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4bTn CoNCxRKSS, \ HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. \ Mis. Doc. 
2d Session. S i No. 27. 



ME!MORIAL ADDRESSES 



LIFE AND CHARACTER 



William A. Duncan 

(A KEPRESENTATIVE FROM PENNSYLVANIA), 



DELIVEUEI) IN THE 



HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AND IN THE SENATE, 

^ r 



FORTY-EIGHTH CONGRESS, SECOND SESSION. 



PUBLISHED BY ORDER OF CONGRESS. "^ ^ 



s- 



WASHINGTON: 
govp:rnment printing office. 

1885. 



JOINT KESOLTJTION for the printins of certain enlosios delivered in Cangress upon the 
late William A. Duncan. 

lii'solred by the Senate and House of I'cprescnlfitives of the United States of 
America in Congress assembled, That tliere be printed of the eulogies delivered 
in Congress upon the late Will iaiui A. Dnucan, a Representative in the Forty- 
eighth Congress from the State of Pennsylvania, twelve thousand live hun- 
dred copies, of which three thousand shall be for the use of the Senate and 
nine thousand live hundred for the use of the HoTise of Representatives. 
And the Secretary of the Treasury be, and he is hereby, directed to have 
printed a portrait of the said William A. Duncan to accompany said eulogies; 
and for the purpose of engraving or printing said portrait the sum of live 
hundred dollars, or so much thereof as may be necessary, is hereby appropri- 
ated, out of any moneys in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated. 

Approved, February 12th, 1885. 



ADDRESSES 

ON TIIK 

Death of William A. Duncan. 



PROCEEDINGS IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. 



In the House of Eepresentatives, 

December 1, 1884. 

Mr. Erimentrout. Mr. Speaker, on me has devolved the sad 
duty of announcing to the House of Representatives the death of 
our late lamented colleague, William A. Duncan, recently rep- 
resenting the nineteenth district of the State of Pennsylvania, com- 
posed of the counties of Adams, York, and Cumberland, which 
occurred at Gettysburg on the 14th of November last. 

It is not my purpose m)w to make any remarks commemorative 
of the qualities and character of the deceased. Upon some future 
occasion that will be my sad duty. But on behalf of our delega- 
tion and of the constituents whom he represented I offer the fol- 
lowing resolutions, and ask their adoption by the House. 

The Speaker. The resolutions submitted by the gentleman from 
Pennsylvania Avill be read. 

The Clerk read as follows: 

Besolrecl, That the House has heard with siucere regret the annonncement 
of the death of William A, Duncan, late a Representative from the State of 
Pennsylvauia. 

Resolved, That the Clerk commuuicate the foregoing rcsulntion to the 
Senate. 

BesoJved, That as a further mark of respect to the memory of the deceased 
the House do now adjourn. 

The question being taken on the resolutions, they were unani- 
mously adopted ; and accordingly the House adjourued. 



4 LIFE AND CHJEACTER OF WILLIAM A. DUNCAN. 

Decp:meei: 17, 1884. 

Mr. Ermentrout, by iiuanimoiis consent, submitted the follow- 
wig resolution ; which was read, considered, and adopted : 

Eesolved, That Monday, January 26, 1885, at 2.30 ]i. m., be fixed as the time 
for paying appropriate honor to the memory of the hite Hon. W. A. Du^X'AN, 
hite a Keprescntative from the St te of Pennsylvania. '' 

January 2G, 1885. 

The Speaker. The hour of half past two o'clock having arrived, 
the Chair will bring to the attention of the House the special order 
assigned for this time. 

'J'he Clerk read as follows : 

Besoh-ed, That Monday, January 26, 188.5, at 2.30 p. m., be fixed as the time 
for paying appropriate honor to the memory of the late Hon. W. A. Duncan, 
late a Eepresentative from the State of Pennsylvania. 

Mr. Ermentrout, T submit the resolutions which I send to the 
desk. 

The Clerk read as follows : 

Besolved, That this House has heard with profound sorrow of the death of 
Hon. W. A. Duncan, late a Eepresentative fro-n the State of Pennsylvania. 

EesoJred, That the business of the House be now suspended that fitting 
tribute may be paid to his memory. 

Besolved, That as an additional mark of respect the House shall, at the con- 
clusion of these cei'emouies, adjourn. 

Eesolved, That the Clerk communicate these resolutions to the Senate. 



ADDRESS OF MR. ERMENTROUT, OF PENNSYLVANIA. 



Address of Mr. Ermentrout, of Pennsylvania. 

]\[r. Speaker : Hon. \Vii>eiam A. Duncan, the subject ot these f^ 

funeral rites, was born in Franklin Township, Adams County, 
Pennsylvania, February 2, 1836. lie died at Gettysburg, in his 
native county, November 14, 1884, in his forty-ninth year. His 
paternal ancestors originally went from the neighborhood of Edin- 
burgh to Donegal, Ireland, from whence, aljout the year 1750, his 
grandfather, Seth Duncan, emigrated to the United States, and 
located in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. He there married 
and lived till late in life, when he removed to Abbottstown, then 
York (now Adams) County. Seth had a number of children, 
most of whwii became notable people. It was indeed a remark- 
able family. James and Matthew were brave officers in the Revo- 
lutionary war. William, after whom our late colleague was named, 
represented Philadelphia in the State assembly as representative 
and senator for several termsj and was an aid to Governor Simon 
Snyder during the war of 1812. His son, Abner L., was a dis- 
tinguished lawyer in New Orleaus, whither he had gone in 1806. 
He was one of General Jackson's aids at the battle of New Orleans, 
and counsel with Edward Livingstone in defending that general 
during his trial before Judge Hall for proclaiming martial law. 
His daughter Hannah became the wife of John Nicholson, the 
famous comptroller-general of Pennsylvania and partner of Robert 
Morris, the great American financier of the Revolution. Another 
daughter married Judge William Moulder, of Philadelphia. The 
most of them lived to a ripe old age. His son, Adam Seth Enos 
Duncan, the father of Mr. Duncan, was an exception. He died 
in 1840, agt«<l fifty-one years. He, too, had been a soldier, serving 
in the war of 1812-'13 at Luudy's Lane, Chippewa, and Black 
Rock, and was twice wounded. 

On the maternal side tributary rills of Pennsylvania-German 
blood steadied and calmed the Scotch-Irish flood of many genera- 
tions coursing in his veins; for botli grandmother and mother 



6 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF WILLIAM A. DUNCAN. 

were of that race who more than two hundred years ago brought 
from the banks of the Ehine the arts, sciences, literature, and 
reh'gion of a Christian civilization and planted them firmly in 
Pennsylvania. 

Mr. Duncan, therefore, in his extraction was a Peunsylvanian, 
representing in blood and lineage the two great stocks which have 
so strongly impressed their characteristics on that State and made 
her a powerful, prosperous, and substantial Commonwealth. 

It is a remarkable family record, even for good old Pennsyl- 
vania. Yet our friend's whole life shows that he did not depend 
for laurels upon his dead ancestors ; he was rather actuated by the 
famous sentiment of the eloquent Ulysses : 

Nam geuns, et proavos, et quse nou fecimus ipsi, • 
I AHx ea nostra voco. 

Nevertheless, if we would correctly weigli a man's life and char- 
acter we must know the mold in which he was cast. We must all 
act for ourselves ; but something of our oliaracteristics we owe to 
our forebears, as a noted American writer puts it : 

Thongli nature appears capricious, some qualilies she carefully fixes and 
transmits, but some, and those the liner, she exhales with the breath of the 
individual as too costly to perpetuate. But I notice also that they may 
become fixed and permanent in any stock, by painting and repainting them 
in every individual until at last nature adopts them and bakes them in her 
porcelain. 

With these antecedents Mr. Duncan was left an orphan boy at 
the age of four years, with two other brothers but a few years 
older, to the charge of a widowed mother. Nothing of the past 
worthy of preservation for her children was permitted to be lost 
by this estimable lady. Her affectionate care carried them througli 
the troubles of childhood, followed them through the temptations 
of youth and even after their career of manhood had opened. She 
died in 1880 at the advanced age of eighty years, having found 
the reward of her motherly devotion in seeing her boys grow into 
successfid business men and honored citizens. Heaven grant us 
many such women ! They are the Cornelias of the R(^])ublic. 

Presumably Mr. Duncan early showed an aptitude for intellect- 



ADDRESS OF MR. ERMENTROUT, OF PENNSYLVANIA. 7 

ual pursuits, as he matriculated at the age of seventeen at Franklin 
and Marshall Collegp, Lancaster, Pa., in 1853. lie graduated in 
regular course in 1857 as valedictorian of his class. This fact 
attests the eminent rank he attained while a college student as 
scholar, thinker, and orator. Alter graduating he entered the 
law office of R. G. McCreary, esq. (who preceded him one short 
year ago to the other world), at Gettysburg, the county seat of 
Adams, and in due course was admitted to the bar in 1859. Pie 
applied himself zealously to practice. Industry, diligence, and 
integrity brought with them the confidence of his asso(!iates, of the 
community, an extensive practice, and made his professional career 
a success. Endowed with such qualifications, combined with an 
agreeable address and methodical and regular habits, promotion to 
places of public trust became a matter of course, ^y the election 
of the people he filled the office of prosecuting attorney for Adams 
from 1862 to 1865, and so acceptably that he was again chosen to 
fill the same position from 1868 to 1871. He was also for a long 
time solicitor for the county, and filled various other local offices. 
In November, 1882, he was elected to represent the populous and 
-intelligent counties of Adams, Cumberland, and York, comprising 
the nineteenth district of Pennsylvania, in the Forty-eighth Con- 
gress. 

Here let us pause in our count of the unvarnished items that so 
far have made up this man's life. He did not flash into notice like 
a meteor, illuming the heavens to the great admiration of the 
lookers-on and then disappear, nor did he become notorious by 
reason of any great noise- he made or others made for him. AVe 
find him taking his origin in a quiet little township in Adams 
County, going through the phases of infancy and boyhood, begin- 
ning a career of study, till it brought him to the college door. He 
entered at the beginning. He steadily pursued his way, looking 
neither to the right nor to the left. The culmination of that 
course was the winning of its most coveted prize. He entered the 
arena of real life in the ranks of the profession of his choice. He 
there gained its most desirable and substantial rewards. He 
placed himself in contact with the public. • 



8 ■ " LIFE AND CHARACTER OF WILLIAM A. DUNCAN. 

Public trusts became his legitimate possession and public useful- 
ness his habit. No doubt he had conflicts in the race of life, but 
he preserved through them all his own self-respect, the confidence 
of the community which liad known liim from Itoyhood, and of 
all with wliom he associated. He was indeed a type of those men 
who, whether they become more or less famous, whether they 
adorn private station or public position, bring to humanity its most 
lasting and substantial achievements, who well deserve the com- 
mendation of one gifted with more than poetic inspiration, who 

has said — 

All my life long 
I have, bc'lifld with most resi>ect the mau 
\Vho knew himself and knew the ways before him, 
And from amongst tlieiu chose considerately, 
With a clear foresight, not a blindfold courage, 
And, having chosen, Avith a steadfast mind 
Pursued his purposes. 

With such antecedents he became a member of this body. AYith 
such a record the constituency which honored him and those who 
knew him had a right to expect a continuance of his usefulness. 
But Providence willed otherwise. An insidious disease, the ap- 
pearance of which had given occasion for solicitude some six years 
ago, had already laid so heavy a hand upon his mortality that the 
usefulness of his Congressional career was paralyzed at its very 
threshold. And though the excitement and interest natural to every 
one upon entering a new field seemed at the begimiing of this Con- 
gress for awhile to kindle up new life, it was but the last flicker of 
the divine spark premonitory of approaching extinction. Those of 
us who noted these changes saw full well that his days were num- 
bered. He seldom appeared at the meetings of his committees, Edu- 
cation and Military Aifairs. His wasted form and feeble gait were 
seldom seen, and his seat but seldom occupied. 

After the adjournment in July last and his return home he rarely 
left the house, except on pleasant days to take short drives. This 
continued till a month before death, du'-ing which time I learn he 
was constantly at home, and often, owing to a difficulty in breath- 
ing, unable to converse with his friends. In the long, weary hours 



ADDRESS OF MI!. EliMENTROVT, OF PENNSYLVANIA. 9 

spent by him in the ante-chamber of death he learned fully to re- 
alize his condition and to become resigned to it. In vain friends 
spoke hopefully of renewed strength and prolonged life. He gave 
them no encouragement. Overruhid by these friends, he allowed 
his party to honor him with a renomiuation for Congress, but his 
subsequent re-election crowned with success a brow already damp 
with the dews of death. Having renewed the religious vows of his 
early youth, armed with Christian faith in a Redeemer, he calmly 
awaited the beginning of a new life. In the early morning hours 
of November 14, 1884, at Gettysburg, his spirit peacefully took 
its everlasting flight. 

Standing to-day at the grave of William A. Duncan, my 
mind at this stage of our political history is irresistibly carried back 
to a suggestive episode in his career. In 1856, while yet a beard- 
less youth npon the threshold of active life, he was selected as the 
chosen embassador of his instructors and fellow-pupils as the 
representative of his alma mater to bear congratulatory massages 
to James Buchanan, the last President of the United States of his 
party, on his election to the Presidency. Twenty -eight years elapse ; 
years crowded with tremendous events, bringing with them tre- 
mendous changes, affecting the social and political life of millions, 
bringing with them overthrow after overthrow npon the party in 
whose supremacy his warmest sympathies were enlisted, and after 
years of toil and effx)rt in her behalf, in the crowning hour of her 
success, at the very start of a race involving most important results 
to him and his political household, like Moses on Pisgah's top, in 
sight of the promised lan\i, his eyes close in death. 

It is a question among men whether strict propriety does not re- 
quire that on occasions like this the participants should mask their 
feelino-s and restrain the flow of natural emotions. Let those who 
prefer play the part of the stern Roman. I prefer to be the Greek, 
who weeps and still remains a man. For, in this solemn presence, 
occupying from early youth the relations I have to our dead friend, 
the first victim among my Pennsylvania colleagues since my con- 
nection with this House, the recollection of long-faded days trans- 



10 LIFE AND CHAEACTEB OF WILLIAM A. DUNCAN. 

ports me back over the gaps of time, place, and circumstance. 
Once more I stand with him on the perilous edge of an unknown 
future — unknown, but filled with glorious promise and pleasing 
prospect. When the alluring splendors of hope gilded life's bright 
morning with honor, wealth, and fame, beckoning on over untrodden 
and untried patlis, there wq parted, each bent upon his respective 
mission, each pursuing his separate path. Converging here, with 
many things then hoped for never realized to both, his hoped-for 
unrealized balance absorbed by death. It is the one sad lesson of 
life — the chalice that sooner or later is commended to the lips of 
all — the vanity of human wishes. Yet the magic spell of that time 
projects a softening, soothing halo, to which no human heart can 
be insensible, into the very gloom of this hour. 

I should hesitate to intrude upon the privacy of the domestic cir- 
cle on an occasion like this ; but it is due to those who survive him 
to say that the symmetry of our friend's rounded career visible to 
the public eye did not want the harmonious complement of a pros- 
perous wedlock. Perhaps no one may tell how much of his success 
was due to this union. In 1863 he wedded Miss Catherine W. 
Schraucker, daughter of Rev. Dr. Samuel S, Schmucker, president 
of the Theological Seminary at Gettysburg, who is now deceased, 
the honored head of a family distinguished in the annals of the 
Cluirch, in the learned professions, and in the higher walks of lit- 
erature. The fruit of the union was four sons, now aged respect- 
ively twenty, nineteen, seventeen, and tiiirteen years. Happily 
they live to console, to comfort, and to sustain the bereaved widow 
in the bitter afdiction of this irreparable loss. They are tiie lega- 
tees of many honorable family traditions, of which no doubt they 
will prove themselves worthy. I trust they will hold up without 
reproach in the battle of life the noble standard that fell from the 
grasp of their progenitor only when his hand was nerveless in 
death. 

His end was universally lamented and regretted. The resolu- 
tions of respect and sympathy passed by his former associates at 
home, the large concourse of sorrowing friends upon his interment, 



ADDRESS OF MB. SWOI'E, OF FENNSYLVANIA. 11 

bear amplest testimony to this. All that lay in hnman power to 
avert or break the force of the blow has now been done, but — 

They cannot render back 
The golden bowl that's broken at the fountain, 
Or mend the wheel that's broken at the cistern, 
Or twist again the golden cord that's loosed. 

I doubt not that those of us who during the last session saw the 
too frail body that incased the immortal soul of our late associate 
must feel it to be better far to anticipate that hour when the breath 
of Almighty Power shall resurrect it from the dust, and change the 
body corruptible in time into the body incorruptible in eternity. 

Thus ends my painful duty, a duty performed as best I could. 
1 have not disfigured my face with grief as one without hope, nor 
indulsfed in vain lamentation, nor obscured with indiscriminate 
eulogy the memory of our late colleague. Not so have 1 purposed 
or performed. But as one who first learned to know him and be- 
come his friend years back in the college days, I have in decorous 
and befitting words laid an honest tribute on his tomb — a tribute 
not un warmed I hope by some rays of the ancient fliith,some gleams 
of home pride, some cheering beams from the memories of long ago. 



Address by Mr. Savope of Pennsylvania. 

Mr. Speaker: As the successor, fellow-townsman, and life-long 
acquaintance of William A. Duncan I feel impelled, not only or 
chiefly by time-honored custom, but much more by the dictates of 
friendship, esteem, and regard for high mental and moral excellen- 
cies, to offer a few words of tribute to the memory of my predecessor. 

A monotone of sadness pervades the literature of every race and 
comes wailing down to us in the song and story of all the tribes of 
men. To be born is but the beginning of death. All the forces 
and potencies of nature seem at once to combine against the structure 
which she herself has reared. From the initial moment life is a 
struggle which yields no crown to the victor, and to the vanquished 
suffering, decay, and death. If life were to be estimated only by 



12 LIFE AND CRABACTEB OF WILLIAM A. DUNCAN. 

its last and culminating result, or by its continued contest with all 
destructive agencies, then, indeed, it would be true that — 
Mail was made to luourn. 

The teachings of the pessimist would be in accordance with sound 
philosophy, and life itself would be evil, and only evil. 

But man is himself a predominating factor in the economies of 
nature. He fills a larger place in the moral than he occupies in 
the material universe, and stands on a plane so far exalted above all 
other creations, that his life cannot be measured by. his length of 
days in the land. It is estimated not by years so much as by 
deeds; not by cycles of time so much as by eras of events. In 
the material universe not an atom of matt<3r is ever lost, though 
constantly assuming new forms and combinations. 

A drop of water which to-day may be tossed in wild commotion 
on the waves of the deep may to-morrow glitter in the dew-drop 
or fall in a tear. Thus every act of man is followed by an ever- 
widening circle of consequences and results, and forever reappears 
in novel and varied phases of existence. It may itself become a 
propagating germ, to be multiplied and reproduced throughr)ut all 
time. This large view of the vast results which may be attained 
in a life which has not yet reached its meridian may in a measure 
reconcile us to the untimely loss of those who have not lived long, 
but well. 

INIr. Duncan had the honor of being chosen by the people 
amono- whom he was born and reared, and so bv them well known 
and trusted, to represent them here. And though his usefulness 
was to some extent impaired by fiiiling health and ever-increasing 
weakness, yet such was their firm faith in liis honor and honesty 
of purpose and action that they again re-elected him as their Rep- 
resentative for the Forty-ninth Congress. This in itself is a testi- ' 
mony of no slight or dubious character to his worth, ability, and 
conscientious regard for the interests of the people whom he most 
closely represented. Nor is the constituency of the nineteenth dis- 
trict of Pennsylvania by whom he was chosen wanting in the emi- 
nence and distinction of the men whom they have sent here in times 
past. Whatever differences of opinion may have prevailed, and 



ADDRESS OF MR. SWOVK, OF PENNSYLVANIA. 13 

may still prevail, in regard to great public interests and national 
policies, there can be no differences respecting the ability and pa- 
triotism of the Representatives chosen by the people who supported 
my lamented predecessor. Nor was ray honored friend wanting in 
a watchful, careful, and intelligent regard for their interests. 

But his patriotism was broader than his district. He regarded 
that a fragment, however valued and prized, of the great and no- 
ble old Commonwealth of which it is a part ; and this again as only 
a member of a national family of States, constituting one grand and 
glorious Union, whose honor and prosperity is the highest goal, to 
which all should be at once tributary and subordinate. 

With no tormenting ambitions for public office, and but little ex- 
perience beyond the cares of a local and honorable relationship to 
the community in which he lived, Mr. Duncan was sent here more 
by reason of the reputation he liad gained as a good citizen, able 
lawyer, diligent worker, and an incorruptible patriot than because 
he had won any renown as a Representative or legislator. That he 
did not disappoint or forfeit the confidence of his constituency, the 
faith of his party, or fail in his duty to the Commonwealth or to 
the county, is seen in the significant fact that he was returned on 
his second candidacy with a largely increased popular vote over 
his first election. 

I may state here that which may be allowed me, as his personal 
friend and confidant in his last" hours, that he wanted but this to 
smooth and make easy his path to the grave, already open to re- 
ceive him, for he died just one week after his re-election. This is 
not the time to enlarge. -upon the strain and stress which is laid 
upon a member when his personal convictions of what is right and 
just are at variance with those entertained by many of his friends 
and by most of his constituents. Happy is he who escapes this 
ordeal, this trial by fire, and most happy is he who in the long 
run and final result can demonstrate that he was right. 

Those who have known Mr. Duncan only in this legislative hall 
can form no conception of the • man. His first step here was the 
initial movement toward his grave, and every day accelerated the 
pace of the relentless disease which, hour by hour, sapped and 



14 LIFE AND CHARACTEB OF WILLIAM A. DUNCAN. 

undermined his vital forces. Still he fought a good fight against 
his remorseless foe. Jle gallantly contested every step; and could 
he have been placed under more favorable circumstances of climate 
and situation he might have protracted the contest for many years. 
But, sir, though often besought by family and friends to quit his 
post and forsake his duties, he remained here, fulfilling all the re- 
sponsibilities of his position until the close of the session, when, 
with every duty pefrormed, and his public trust fulfilled, he came 
home to die in sight of those blue mountains at whose base he was 
born, and whose lengthening shadows, as the sun sinks behind them, 
almost reach his grave. 

It has been said by the great dramatist, who was. noted for his 
accurate portrayal of tlie human heart and his philosophic inter- 
pretation of the motives of human conduct, that — 

The evil that men do lives after them ; 
The good is oft interred with their bones. 

However true this adverse and discouraging estimate of the dura- 
bility of good deeds may be, it can be accepted only with many 
limitations and under very unfortunate conditions of society. I 
prefer to believe tiie truth of a higher, more inspiring, and philo- 
sophic sentiment: 

The memory of the just is blest, 
The name of the wicked shall rot. 

I believe in the essential immortality of good deeds. Those that 
are such are not and cannot be buried with the bones of their 
authors, but live after and follow them. 

Nay, sir, it is a cheering truth that of "the good men do time but 
the impression deeper makes, as streams their channels deeper wear." 
It is only wlum death has lent its solemn sanction to a completed 
life, and time has confirmed the value of thoughts and deeds, that 
their wisdom and unselfishness are rightly appreciated. 

No man takes in the range and altitude of a mountain while 
environed by near-jutting prominences and thick forests. The chain 
needs to be projected against a remote horizon, girding which may 
be seen the long-drawn and towering massiveness of the whole. 



ADDEESS OF MR. SWOPE, OF PENNSYLVANIA. 15 

Thus it is tliat we contemplate those colossal figures which awe 
and inspire us along the granite ranges of history. 

The virtue, pnrity, and patriotic devotion which look upon us 
from their secure heights to-day in the characters of Washington, 
Jefferson, and others on like Alpine summits are all the more con- 
spicuous and impressive because of the distance from which we 
contemplate them. The ages will never displace them from their 
eminence nor shrink their solid dimensions. In the same measure 
and by the same law will every humbler name take its endnrino- 
place among the stabilities of tlie future. "We may therefore con- 
fidently commit the record of our deceased brother to the keeping 
of that favoring genius who protects and guards the archives of 
the past. 

William A. Duncan Avas born in Franklin Township, Adams 
County, Pennsylvania, on February 2, 1836. After snch pre- 
liminary training as was at that period accessible in country schools 
he entered Franklin and Marshall College, from which he gradu- 
ated in 1857 with the highest honor. Daring liis college course 
he disj)layed marked ability as a clear thinker and graceful writer, 
which qualities he enlarged and developed diu-ing his whole career. 
After leaving college Mr. Duncan studied law in Gettysburg, and 
was admitted to tiie bar in 1860. In 1862 he was elected district 
attorney, and re-elected in 1868. In 1874 he was the nominee of 
Adams County for the State senate. He was also a member of the 
State central committee. In 1882 he was elected a member of the 
Forty-eighth Congress of the United States, and was re-elected 
November 3, 1884. He died November 14, 1884. 

While a close professional student, and a hard worker in all the 
details of his business, so that he commanded the unlimited confi- 
dence of his clieutS; he did not neglect the ordinary duties which 
pertain to a good citizen. He has been identified with every or- 
ganization which had for its object the welfare and improvement 
of the community in which he lived. He was genial, kind, and 
courteous, and was most loved by those who knew him best. 

In his domestic life his even and equable temper, his kind con- 
sideration for those about him, his hospitality to his friends, and 



16 LIFE AND CHABACTER OF WILLIAM A. DUNCAN. 

his constant love for his wife and children, shone forth with pecu- 
liar luster. During the long period of his weakness and depres- 
sion his devoted wife administered to his wants, relieved him of 
such burdens as she herself could bear, and with an entire devo- 
tion which ended only with his life sacrificed everything for him. 

With the love of partial friendship, with the sorrow of a be- 
reaved conimnuity, we interred, the remains of ouf brother in the 
soil of a field made memorable by the bloodiest battle of cruel war. 

He rests on the summit where carnage and death held their 
bloody revels twenty-one years ago, but where now all is peace 
and stillness, where the summer breezes blow softly from the blue 
mountains which overlook the plain now smiling with peace and 
plenty. 

In the adjoining cemetery, where — 

EncU iu his narrow cell forever laid, 
The rude forefathers of the hamlet sleep — 

rests all that is mortal of my lamented friend and predecessor. 

Let us trust that each of us, before the final result comes, may 
have contributed his share, humble though it be, to the happiness, 
prosperity, and progress of his race, so that it may not truly be 
said of any one of us, "he has lived in vain." 



Address of Mr. Atkinson, of Pennsylvania. 

Mr. Speaker : As the Highlander will not pass the tumulus of his 
friend without adding a pebble thereto, so I offer a brief tribute to 
the memory of my late colleague, William A. Duncan, in whose 
honor these services are held to-day. It is fitting that we should 
turn aside for a little while from our daily duties to record our tes- 
timonials of esteem for one who faithfully and honestly performed 
his duty as a Representative, who conscientiously and laboriously 
served his constituents even when declining health made his oner- 
ous duties doubly difficult, and who thoroughly enjoyed the confi- 
dence and respect of the intelligent constituency which sent him to 
this House. 



ADDRESS OF ME. ATKINSON, OF PENNSYLVANIA. 17 

We can render him no other service ; but it is a service which 
he well deserved, so that we may not perform it as a mere matter 
of official duty or custom, but because his gentle and amiable dis- 
position, his fidelity and honesty, his industry, and his sacrifices 
for his country secure it for him as his just due. 

The district which I have the honor to represent adjoins that 
represented by Mr. Duncan, but my acquaintance with him began 
only at the beginning of the first session of the Forty-eighth Con- 
gress. When I first met him I was impressed with his amiability 
and gentleness of disposition. A thorough gentleman, of refined 
and cultured tastes, I found him an interesting companion, and 
soon learned to appreciate him as a valued friend. Although dis- 
ease had set its impress upon him, he never seemed to think of 
himself or his physical misfortunes, but bravely and unflinchingly 
bore the burden which would have fidlen on a man of less courage 
with crushing force. He attended to his public duties with careful 
attention to detail and a total disregard of self, as if animated only 
by a desire to achieve the greatest results in the brief time which 
he knew was allotted him to live, apparently believing that — 

We live iu deeds, not years ; in tlioughts, not breaths ; 
In feelings, not in figures on a dial. 
We should count time by heart-throbs. He most lives 
Who thinks most, feels the noblest, acts the best. 

Mr. Duncan's humblest constituents could call upon him for 
his services, feeling assured that his business would receive as care- 
ful consideration as the more important affairs of the influential. 
He was polite and courteous to his fellow-members of this House 
and kind to his inferiors. As a lawyer he loved his profession, 
and although not without ambition for public life, yet acted as if 
the highest honor to which he aspired was to be distinguished in 
the profession of his choice. 

Bringing fine literary culture to his professional studies, he 
thoroughly mastered the principles of the law and applied them 
readily and accurately to the fiicts presented in a cause. His in- 
tellectual abilities were of a high order, and he possessed a diver- 
H. Mis. 27 2 



18 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF WILLIAM A. DUNCAN. 

sified knowledge outside the range of his profession rarely obtained 
by the laborious practitioner of the law. 

He acquired a large practice soon after he was admitted to the 
bar, and his unwearied devotion to the interests of his clientage 
was one of the inducing causes which produced the disease of which 
he died. Few men possessed as great and enviable popularity as 
Mr. Duncan. His popularity was not accidental or evanescent, 
for his constituents had known him from his childhood. 

Soon after he came to the bar he was elected district attorney of 
his native county, and so satisfactory was his performance of the 
duties of that office that he was again elected to the same position. 
After his first election as a Representative in Congress he felt that 
his failing health would not enable him to bear the exertion and 
fatigue incident to a canvass for re-election, and he would willingly 
have declined the honor of a renomination. But his many friends 
insisted that he should again be a candidate, and he reluctantly 
yielded to their importunities. 

His physical inability rendered him unable to canvass his dis- 
trict, but the confidence of his people was so marked, that he was 
elected by a larger majority than when he was first a candidate. 
No higher compliment could have been paid to his personal worth. 

Two weeks after his re-election death called him from the scenes 
of his struggles and his earthly triumphs. He fell in the meridian 
of his useful and honorable career ; and his unfinished life, if the 
expression may be used, is well typified by a broken column. 
From the spring and summer of his career we had a right to ex- 
pect an abundant autumn. We regret that by his untimely death 
this body and his people have been deprived of those matured 
fruits for which his character and attainments had justified us to 
hope. 

His body has been laid to rest among his kindred upon the his- 
toric Cemetery Hill at Gettysburg, which two decades ago vibrated 
with the thunder of that mighty cannonade which marked the 
turning point of the struggle for the maintenance of the Union. 
The fierce conflict over, the nation dwells in peace, and may this 



ADDRESS OF MB. POST, OF PENNSYLVANIA. 19 

peace be emblematical of the peaceful repose of his spirit since the 
conflict of his life is ended. 

The sainted dead of the nation, who died that the Union might 
live, lie in the national cemetery at his feet. On the morning- of 
the resurrection none can be in nobler company. 

He has outsoared the shadow of our uight; 

Envy and calumny and hate and pain, 
And that unrest which men miscall delight, 

Can touch hira not and torture not again; 

From the contagion of the world's slow stain 
He is secure ; and now can never mourn 

A heart grown cold, a head grown gray, in vain — 
Nor, when the spirit's self has ceased to burn, 
With sparkless ashes load an unlamented urn. 



Address of Mr. Post, of Pennsylvania. 

Mr. Speaker : He whose memory we honor to-day and whose 
death we mourn was a modest, unassuming, honest, and faithful 
citizen. Content to perform with zeal and fidelity whatever duties 
his environment imposed he sought not renown, but courted rather 
that more substantial boon, the confidence and esteem of his neigh- 
bors, with whom he was brought into daily contact and among 
whom he sought to achieve an honorable reputation. 

During; his brief term of service in this House Mr. Duncan was 
precluded from attendance upon its sessions often. for several days 
in succession by reason of delicate health. At the time of taking 
his seat tlie ravages of disease had grievously impaired liis powers 
of endurance, and he was therefore obliged to abstain from all social 
festivities, in order that his whole strength might be liusbanded for 
the discharge of official duties. Hence it came that his acquaint- 
ance among his colaborers in this body was exceedingly limited and 
his usefulness necessarily curtailed. For many years it had been 
his ambition to represent his district in Congress- and who can im- 
agine the bitterness of his disappointment, when at last, the coveted 
prize being attained, he found himself physically incapacitated for 
active participation in the work of legislation. 



20 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF WILLIAM A. DUNCAN. 

In this contentious body, with its iron-bound, inexplicable rules 
and utter disregard for individual feeling; where recognition can 
only be obtained as the result of intellectual prowess, parliament- 
ary ^we^se, or sheer force of will; where the power is wielded by 
a few of the legislative elders, and a new member is chiefly con- 
sidered as a necessity in making up a quorum, a man in robust health 
and in the full vigor of manhood's strength may well be over- 
whelmed by the paucity of his chances for gaining a fdothold ; how 
utterly futile of accomplishment, then, this task must have ap- 
peared to our deceased friend, M'ho entered this Hall enfeebled by 
disease and with emaciated frame. 

Stricken down while yet comparatively a young man, deprived 
of an opportunity for displaying in public life whatever talent or 
adaptation therefor he may have possessed, in eulogizing the dead 
upon this occasion we can only speak of the character and reputa- 
tion sustained by him in the private walks of life. In his inter- 
course with his fellows the deceased was kind, considerate, and 
courteous. In his business relations he was conscientious, fair, and 
generous. As a lawyer he was able, industrious, and successful.* 
To all trusts confided to his keeping he was faithful, and as a husband 
aud father he was loving, tender, and true. 

A little more than a year ago the Forty-eighth Congress convened 
in its first session. In the year that has passed so quickly, as quickly 
as vanishing breath, the shadow of death has frequently darkened 
this Chamber. Of those who then came commissioned to this House 
of Representatives, bearing with pride such evidence of popular 
favor and eagerly hoping for higher honors, several have already 
goue to join the great majority. Life's fitful fever being over, they 
sleep. As the Death King has entered here with swift and echo- 
less tread and borne away one after another of our associates, we 
are reminded of the uncertainty of life, and the great and solemn 
truth is forced home upon us that it is appointed unto all once to die. 

William A. Duncan was born in Adams County, Pennsyl- 
vania, February 2, 1836. After graduating with high honors from 
college he read law and was admitted to practice in 1859. Aside 
from serving two terms as district attorney for his county he held 



ADDRESS OF MB. BAYNE, OF PENNSYLVANIA. 21 

no other official position until his election to Congress. xVhvays a 
strong partisan and taking an active interest in political matters, he 
was frequently a delegate to conventions, county and State. 

Notwithstanding the fact that at the close of tlie last session Mr. 
Duncan returned to his home much prostrated, and it was apparent 
that the end of his earthly career was near at hand, and while unable 
to go about among them, his constituents unanimously renominated 
him for re-election, and at the election he was chosen by a large 
majority, thus attesting the regard of his people for their distin- 
guished Representative. The certificate of the return judges of 
this election was received two days before his death. 

I was one of the committee of the members of this House des- 
ignated by the Speaker to attend the funeral obsequies of the de- 
ceased held in the quaint but historic little borough of Gettysburg. 
In that vicinity he had lived all his life, and from the immense 
concourse of mourning friends gathered there to pay their last trib- 
ute of respect it was evident that by those who had known him 
long and intimately he was beloved. There, side by side with those 
of his kin who had gone before, we laid him to rest, and as we re- 
traced our steps from the city of the dead, leaving him asleep upon 
the breast of Mother Earth, we felt that a good man had gone from 
among us to his eternal home. 



Address of Mr. Bayne, of Pennsylvania. 

Mr. Speaker : I rise^" more for the purpose of joining my col- 
leagues in paying a tribute to the memory of jNIr. Duncan than 
with the view of saying anything which may enlighten the members 
of the House about his characteristics or his life. My acquaintance 
with Mr. Duncan was formed at the beginning of the present Con- 
gress ; and I was brought into more or less intimate association 
with him by his being a member of the Committee on Military 
Aifairs. I. also met him frequently, and our social relations were 
somewhat intimate and always pleasant. 

As Mr. Duncan appeared to me, a most prominent characteristic 



22 LIFE AND CRAEACTER OF WILLIAM A. DUNCAN. 

of hjs nature was that lie was essentially and in every respect a gen- 
tleman. 

Every element which goes to make up that desirable character 
was possessed in a conspicuous degree by him. He was studious 
always to avoid the mere suggestion of anything that would give 
offense. In his intercourse with others he was kindly, genial, 
respectful, treating all as equals. 

The members of his own family — his sons and daughters — shared 
his association as adult equals are wont to do ; and I have more 
than once observed the respect and consideration that were shown 
each other in the discussion of topics, and how free each felt to ex- 
press his or her opinion, unawed by paternal austerity, fully en- 
couraged rather by the mutual confidence and regard that prevailed 
in that good family. 

Notwithstanding this genial, kindly temperament of Mr. Dun- 
can, I am told that in the legal forum he conducted most vigorous 
fights, and that in professional contr9versies his brethren of the bar 
always regarded him as a foeman fully worthy of their steel. In 
Congress, being a new member and subjected to those unfavorable 
opportunities which new members have always to encounter here, 
he had but little chance to show the metal he was made of; but I 
am convinced from his course in the Committee on Military Affairs, 
from the decided conviction he expressed on subjects coming before 
that committee, that if his health had permitted him to live longer 
among us and it had been equal to the performance of the multi- 
farious duties devolved upon us, here in the legislative forum he 
would have made his mark, as he did in the legal forum before he 
came here. 

Mr. Duncan was comparatively young, and it was a misfortune 
to his great State and to his constituency that he was taken off so soon. 
In the rough-and-tumble fight of this world and in the rugged 
contests which seem to exist always in this body it is not easy for 
a man of quiet, amiable, and gentle manner to make himself con- 
spicuous before the country, but after a while, after the lapse of 
time, and with some experience, I feel he would have risen to a 
commanding position in this House, and that his abilities would 



ADDEESS OF ME. HOPKINS, OF PENNSYLVANIA. 23 

have gained the fullest respect and admiration of his fellow- 
members. 

His people have lost an honest and worthy man, his constituents 
a faithful and just Representative, and his family a good father and 
kind husband; and I sincerely join with my colleagues in paying 
this last tribute by this great body to the memory of Mr. Duncan. 



Address of Mr. HOPKINS, of Pennsylvania. 

Mr. Speaker : Upon the first day of the present session of Con- 
gress, w^hen Representatives were exchanging salutations upon their 
reunion after a few months of separation, the cheerful greetings 
w^ere silenced and the business of the House was suspended by the 
announcement that during the vacation two of our fellow-members 
had passed away from earth and would meet with us in this Hall 
no more. 

Thus in the midst of our joyousness we w-ere reminded that a 
dark shadow enveloped the households of two of our late com- 
panions. In the full enjoyment of our own active life and vigor- 
ous health we were reminded that death had stricken down two of 
those who sat here with us but a few months since. And M^e come 
to-day in a formal manner to honor the memory of William A. 
Duncan. 

There is much of the true philosophy of life in the Latin maxim, 
de mortuis nil nisi bonum. For it is unmanly to attack those who 
can not defend themselyes. But in speaking of the dead the ten- 
dency is rather to indulge in exaggeration of their virtues. The 
friends of our departed colleague have no occasion to invoke the 
charity of silence; and it is quite certain that by extravagant eulogy 
we would do violence to the nature and wishes of him whose mem- 
ory we honor. • 

By native capacity and educational acquirements Mr. Duncan 
was well equipped for a useful and honorable life. But, unfortu- 
nately, his mental vigor was not fortified by physical strength. 
He was always delicate. The insiduous disease which undermined 



24 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF WILLIAM A. DUNCAN. 

his life and bore him to an untimely grave crippled his energies, 
and to a great extent marred the perfection of his promised career. 
Taken away just at the period when a man's fame, if he is to have 
any in political life, is first forming, Ave can only conjecture what 
his success would have been. But there is enough known to ex- 
cite sincere regret at his removal from his new career, when we re- 
member that he was a man of cultivated mind, inflexible integrity, 
lofty aspirations, and courteous manners. 

Mr. Duncan was never an aggressive man, but quiet, unobtru- 
sive, and extremely modest. Yet, with all of his amiability, he was 
not without resolution and self-assertion. In his antagonisms he 
never excited enmity ; in his successes he never aroused envy. 
The gentleness of his disposition, the frankness of his manner, the 
integrity of his character, made him many friends and many mourn- 
ers at his death, 

I had the sad satisfaction of attending the funeral of our re- 
spected colleague, and witnessed the universal evidence of high 
esteem in which he was held by all of his neighbors. The entire 
community followed his remains to their last resting-place in the 
historic cemetery which overlooks the town of Gettysburg, and 
manifested their profound respect as the body was laid away in that 
peaceful and lovely spot which had been ,the scene of a bloody and 
memorable conflict. As his calm life was undisturbed by the 
angry contentions around him, so his last, sweet sleep will be un- 
broken by the turbulent memories which throng the air above his 
grave. 

The gentlemen who have preceded me have spoken at length of 
Mr. Duncan's public services, and further allusion to them is 
needless, 

I present my estimate of his character as a modest tribute to the 
memory of a modest man. 

I move the adoption of the resolutions. 

The resolutions were unanimously agreed to ; and in accordance 
therewith the House adjourned. 



PROCEEDINGS IN THE SENATE. 



In the Senate of the United States, 

January 26, 1885. 
A message from the House of Representatives, by Mr. Clark, 
its Clerk, commuDicated to the Senate the resolutions of the House 
on the announcement of the death of Hon. William A. Duncan, 
late a Representative from the State of Pennsylvania. 

The Presiding Officer (Mr. Piatt in the chair). The Chair 
lays before the Senate a message from the House of Representatives. 
The Chief Clerk read as follows : 

In the House of Representatives, January 26, 1885. 

Eesolved, That this House has heard with profound sorrow of the death of 
Hod. W. a. Duncan, late a Representative from the State of Pennsylvania. 

Eesolved, That the business of the House he now suspended that fitting 
tribute may be paid to his memory. 

Besolved, That as an additional mark of respect the House shall, at the con- 
clusion of these ceremonies, adjourn. 

Besolved, That the Clerk communicate these resolutions to the Senate. 

Mr. Cameron, of Pennsylvania. I offer resolutions, and ask 
that they be read at the desk. 
The Chief Clerk read as follows : 

Besolved, That the Senate has heard with profound sorrow of the death of 
William A. Duncan, late a member of the House of Representatives from the 
State of Pennsylvania. 

Besolved, That the business of the Senate be now suspended in order that 
fitting tribute may be paid to his memory. 

Besolved, That as an additional mark of respect the Senate shall, at the con- 
clusion of these ceremonies, adjourn. 

a5 



26 LIFE AND CHABACTEB OF WILLIAM A. DUNCAN. 



Address of Mr. Cameron, of Pennsylvania. 

Mr. President: It is my sad duty to anuounce to the Senate 
the death of William A. Duncan, late my colleague in the House 
of Representatives from the State of Pennsylvania, which occurred 
on the morning of Friday, November 14, 1884, at his home in the 
historic town of Gettysburg, Pa. 

Mr. Duncan' was born in Franklin Township, Adams County, 
Pennsylvania, on the 2d day of February, 1836. After receiving 
a common-school education he went through his preparatory course 
for college at Mercersburg, Pa., and entered Franklin and Mar- 
shall College at Lancaster, where he was distinguished for his tal- 
ents and close application to his studies, graduating in 1857, on 
which occasion he was selected to deliver the valedictory address 
of his class. 

After leaving college, he entered the law office of Robert G. Mc- 
Creary, esq., at Gettysburg, where he diligently pursued his stud- 
ies, and on the 15th of August, 1859, was admitted to the bar, and 
at once entered upon the active practice of his profession. 

Being possessed of a versatile mind, with an open, generous, and 
genial nature, full of magnanimity, and particularly devoted to his 
adopted profession, he became one of the most promising members 
of the Adams County bar, and very soon acquired a large practice. 
It is said by one who knew him intimately that " his professional 
career was characterized by devotion to his profession, fidelity to 
his clients, and marked courtesy in his relations to the court and 
members of the bar." 

Mr. Duncan practiced law successfully for over twenty years. 
Possessing much natural ingenuity and industry, these with his 
uniformly gentlemanly bearing and high integrity rendered him 
skillfully armed and equipped for the contests at the bar and made 
him successful in his business affairs. He had a broad and cul- 
tivated mind, a keen and polished utterance, and a pure and patri- 
otic heart. Always fair and candid, he sought no unfair advantage 



ADDRESS OF MB. CAMERON, OF PENNSYLVANIA. 27 

in argument, but invariably conceded to his opponent the same 
honesty of motive which he claimed for himself and which was 
universally accorded him. His good and reliable judgment ren- 
dered -liim very useful as a citizen in the conduct of any enterprise 
of public coucern. He was patient, prudent, and far-sighted, aud 
his astuteness was especially apparent before a jury. For years 
before his death he was in full practice, having a large share of 
assigned estates intrusted to his excellent management ; and, as is 
generally the case in rural districts, his practice was of a miscel- 
laneous character, rendering it necessary for him to give it close 
and constant application, which in the progress of time seriously 
affected his health. 

In 1862 he received the nomination for the office of district at- 
torney by the Democratic party of his county, of whicli he was an 
ardent and faithful adherent, and was elected in October of that 
year. 'While holding this position he performed his duties with 
such fidelity and impartiality that he was renominated in 1865, but 
owino- to divisions in his party was defeated. 

In 1868 he was again nominated for the third time for that 
position, and was elected, when he again proved himself .worthy 
of the trust bestowed upon him by his fellow-citizens. 

In 1882, after a very spirited contest, he was nominated by his 
Democratic friends to the Forty-eighth Congress to represent the 
nineteenth Congressional district of Pennsylvania, composed of the 
counties of Adams, Cumberland, and York, a district very strongly 
Democratic, and elected by 3,177 plurality. After taking his seat 
in the House he was assigned to duty on the Committee on Military 
Affairs and the Committee on Education, where he served with 
great credit to himself and his constituency. 

Mr. Duncan was renominated last summer to represent his dis- 
trict again in the Forty-ninth Congress and was elected in the suc- 
ceeding election by 4,262 plurality. His re-election two weeks be- 
fore his death, although suffering at the time with an incurable 
disease, was a high compliment to his sterling worth and showed 
the universal esteem in which he was held. 

Mr. Duncan was a thorough and consistent Democrat. Having 



28 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF WILLIAM A. DUNCAN. 

been imbued with the principles of that party from early child- 
hood, his faith in its teacliings and his zeal in its service increased 
yearly. At home he was one of the foremost leaders in its councils 
and an elegant and aggressive champion in defense of its traditions, 
but, like the great majority of his party in the State, was a firm 
and steadfast supporter of the doctrine of protection. It being his 
first term in Congress, he was too modest and retiring to obtrude his 
opinions upon the House or enter into discussion with older and 
more experienced members, but had he been permitted to live 
through the coming Congress he would have proven himself capa- 
ble of sustaining in debate the measures he advocated with skill 
and good judgment. 

One of the greatest characteristics of Mr. Duncan's life was his 
abounding good nature and his unfailing charity toward others. 

If anything derogatory of another was said in his presence, he 
was sure to defend the absent one or to change the course of con- 
versation by some humorous or diverting remark into other and 
more congenial channels. He had no ill to speak of others, even of 
those who may have treated him unkindly and unjustly. 

Mr. Duncan was married in 1863 to Miss Catharine Schmucker, 
a daughter of Rev. S. S. Schmucker, D. D., an eminent divine of 
the Lutheran Church, an organization very large in numbers and 
which has in its membership some of the ablest and purest people 
in the State. Miss Schmucker, brought up under the teachings of 
a father of great strength and purity of character, was a worthy 
helpmeet to her husband and made his home a charming one, re- 
markable for its cultivated simplicity in a community noted for its 
intelligence and unostentatious hospitality. 

Mr. Duncan had always enjoyed vigorous and robust health 
until about four years ago, when symptoms of pulmonary trouble 
began to develop to such an extent that he was compelled to aban- 
don his legal practice. Although he employed the best medical 
skill and was extremely careful in his habits, the disease gradually 
gained headway. He returned to his home after the adjournment 
of Congress in July last. As the summer advanced his health 
rapidly declined, and for several weeks before his death he was un- 



ADDRESS OF MR. CAMERON, OF PENNSYLVANIA. 29 

able to leave his residence. He grew weaker constantly, until 
death relieved him, dying calmly and peacefully in the presence of 
his wife and family. 

Mr. Duncan was a Christian. Pie trusted in God and publicly 
avowed his allegiance to Him. His many virtues, which so fondly 
attached many warm friends to him, will be missed at hi& office, at 
his fireside, at the bar, and in these Halls. 

In the Gettysburg Star and Sentinel of Tuesday evening, No- 
vember 18, 1884, I find the following resolutions adopted at a 
meeting of his former associates at the bar. 

That we have heard with profound sorrow of the death of our late brother, 
Hou. William A. Duncan; that by his demise our bar has lost an able law- 
yer and prudent counselor, our county a useful man and a good citizen, our 
Congressional district an honorable gentleman and a faithful representative. 

That the court, its officers, aud the bar attend the funeral of the departed. 

That these proceedings be entered on the records of the court, aud be pub- 
lished in the couuty papers. 

That we present a copy of these resolutions to the ftimily of onr lamented 
associate, aud extend to them our deepest sympathy, and commend them to 
the Consoler of the afflicted aud the Healer of all sorrow. 

Mr. President, in my association with men in public or private 
life I have never heard of one who possessed a character more lovely. 
Strong in his convictions of right, fearless in his expression of them, 
he had the rare fiiculty of impressing his antagonists with the purity 
aud sincerity of his motives, so that when they could not approve 
his position they never failed to respect the reasons which he gave 
to sustain it. Thus it was that he left no sting behind and his strong 
est political opponents were among his warmest personal friends. 

During my service in the Senate we have been frequently called 
upon to mourn the death of fellow-members endeared to us by ties 
of association and friendship. In the death of Mr. Duncan I feel 
that we have not only lost a worthy associate, but the State which 
I have the honor in part to represent has lost an able and efficient 
representative. Our colleague has passed beyond the river that 
separates life from death, time from eternity ! He has passed for- 
ever from these Halls, and has left behind him an honorable name 
and an unsullied reputation. 



30 LIFE AND CEAEACTEB OF WILLIAM A. DUNCAN. 



Address of Mr. Maxey, of Texas. 

Mr. President. The neighbors of the late William A. Dun- 
can say he was manly, generous, talented, true. 

To have achieved honorable position while young, and to have 
increased his reputation not only as a faithful guardian of public 
trust, but as a man in the social and daily walks of life, he must 
have possessed sterling qualities of head and heart. Graduating 
in 1857, he was chosen to deliver the valedictory. Admitted to 
the bar in 1859, he, by dint of hard study, honorable tleportment, 
a good education, and native talent, rapidly rose in his profession, 
and acquired a large and lucrative practice. The high estimate 
placed upon him by his professional brethren is the best assurance 
of his honor as a man and ability as a lawyer. 

He made friends wherever he went and retained them. He 
was a man of good culture and earnest application. 

Three years after his admission to the bar he was elected district 
attorney, and to the same office five years later. 

In 1882 he was elected to the Forty-eighth Congress, and in 
1884 was elected to the next Congress. His last election speaks 
volumes. Stricken down by the dread disease, pulmonary con- 
sumption, the shadows were gathering thick and fost around him 
before the canvass was closed. The scythe of death was whetted and 
ready to cut the brittle thread. The people knew that his days and 
hours were numbered, yet they showed their love and respect for 
the dying man by re-election to the position he had so worthily 
filled. Two weeks later he was numbered among the dead. 

If a man die shall he live again? is the ever-recurring question. 

The Creator by whose* almighty fiat were launched, we know not 
when, countless worlds into boundless space, gave them laws infin- 
itely wise and so nicely adjusted that this vast universe moves un- 
erringly, so perfectly that the intellect of man can calculate centuries 
m advance the precise moment of an event resulting from those laws. 

The inflillible operation of the infallible laws of creation proves 
an infallible Law Giver. 



ADDRESS OF MR. McMILLAN, OF MINNESOTA. 31 

The crowning glory of creation is man, with his miglity intellect, 
his soaring ambition, his lofty aspirations, his resistless energy ; 
with a moral nature leading him pleasantly into the paths of gen- 
|;leness, mercy, and benevolence, with an inborn veneration for the 
author of his existence. Can it be that such a God would create 
such a man, who, in obedience to the laws of his existence, has 
achieved 'such amazing triumphs over matter and such mighty 
triumphs over mighty intellects, and yet would doom that man to 
annihilation with death? Can it be that such an intellect incased in 
a frail mortal body should die because the body dies ? Through the 
unending cycles of eternity the soul of man will go onward ex- 
panding in the presence of the Omniscient. If a man die he shall 
live again. 

William A. Duncan was a man of many virtues, beloved by 
all who knew him, and best by those who knew him best. The 
memory of the just is blessed. 

William A. Duncan has finished his course on earth. He 
acted well his part. We scatter flowers over his grave. '' He shall 
return no more to his house ; neither shall his place know him any 
more." 



Address of Mr. McMillan, of Minnesota. 

Mr. President : Already on two occasions during the past week 
we have been called upon to suspend our ordinary proceedings to 
pay respect to the memories of those who have been called by death 
from the public serviced The voice of eulogy uttered upon those' 
occasions has scarcely died within the Chamber ere we are called 
again to mourn the departure and comnaemorate the virtues of 
another fellow-laborer. The chair of William A. Duncan, in 
the House of Representatives, is vacant. He was born in Adams 
County, Pennsylvania, in 1836, and died at Gettysburg, Pa., on 
Friday, the 14th of November, 1884, in the forty-ninth year of his 
age. Endowed by nature with a high order of talents, his intel- 
lectual powers were developed, enlarged, and invigorated by a lib- 
eral course of study and mental discipline at his alma mata, Frank- 



32 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF WILLIAM A. DUNCAN. 

lia and Marshall College, from which he was graduated in 1857. 
After faithful and diligent application through a regular course of 
legal study and training he was admitted to the bar in 1859. Thus 
thoroughly furnished for his work, he entered upon the practice of 
the law, and devoted himself to his profession. By his ability, in- 
tegrity, and industry, he soon acquired an extensive practice, which 
he retained throughout his professional career of twenty-five years, 
during which he was twice elected by the people district attorney 
of his county. 

He had an exalted view of the dignity and importance of the 
profession, and fully appreciated both its privileges and its respon- 
sibilities, and believed that for the administration of justice both 
lawyers and courts were to co-operate. In the trial of causes, there- 
fore, he sought the truth and did not pervert justice ; he was true 
as well to the court as to client. In his professional life he was 
not influenced by sordid or mercenary motives ; he never turned a 
deaf ear to the cause of the poor or friendless, and was ever ready 
to defend the oppressed. 

After so many years of arduous professional labor he consented 
to become a candidate for the House of Representatives of the 
United States, and in 1882 was elected by his constituents to rep- 
resent the nineteenth Congresfsional district of Pennsylvania in the 
Forty-eighth Congress. He was a Democrat, but, with the majority 
of his party in Pennsylvania, he believed in the principle of pro- 
tection to American industry. 

His service in the House of Representatives was limited to a 
single term. During the Congress of which he was a member he 
served upon several important committees of the House. 

Having participated so many years in the jurisprudence of his 
State he was enabled by his intellectual ability, his legal learning, 
his large experience, wise counsel, and sound judgment, to take a 
high position among his colleagues, and to render valuable and 
efficient service in devising and framing the legislation of the nation. 
He was diligent, conscientious, and faithful in the discharge of his 
public duties, and his generous and honorable bearing and upright 



ADDRESS OF MR. JONES, OF FLORIDA. 33 

charncter won for him the liigh esteem and regard of his colleagues 
in the House of Representatives. 

But those loved him most who knew him best. After his first 
term of service, although it was evident death had marked him as 
a victim, and that he must very soon yield up his life, his constit- 
uents, in November last, re-elected him as their Representative in 
the next (Forty-ninth) Congress. This was the benediction of 
those who had been the companions of his youth, the friends of his 
manhood, and who saw him and knew him in the daily walks of 
life. No higher or clearer expression of confidence and regard 
could be given by a constituency to their Representative; no greater 
reward could be received by a public servant. 

The crowning characteristic of the life of our departed friend re- 
mains to be noticed. He was a faithful and sincere Christian ; the 
graces which adorned his character were the fruits of his Saviour's 
love, and his daily life, which commended him to the favor and re- 
gard of his fellows, was the expression of his faith in Christ. This 
faith which prepared him to live, prepared him also to die. 

If timid nature for a moment shrank at the approach to the dark 
valley the voice of the risen Saviour came to him in reassuring 
accents from the other side, "It is I, be not afraid;" and in the re- 
sponse of his faith his last song was the sweetest, as he sang with 
the Hebrew poet — 

I shall be satisfied when I awake with Thy likeness. 



Address of Mr. Jones, of Florida. 

Mr. President : Again we are called upon to record our expres- 
sions of regret over the loss of a good man . William A. Duncan, 
of Pennsylvania, in the prime of his manhood and the beginning of 
his usefulness, has passed away forever. In his untimely death the 
Church has lost a sincere Christian, the bar an able lawyer, Con- 
gress an upright and useful member, and the country a devoted 
and patriotic citizen. It is hard for us to comprehend the wisdom 
H. Mis. 27 3 



34 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF WILLIAM A. DUNCAN. 

of Providence in designating a man so circumstanced as a victim 
for the grave. After long years of study and preparation we find 
him, in his forty-seventh year, entering the other House as a mem- 
ber of the Forty-eighth Congress from one of the most important 
districts in his State. He liad won his college prizes and passed 
on to the bar. There, in honorable competition with the able law- 
yers of his State, he acquired legal fame, and his intercourse with 
the people satisfied them that he was a fit person to represent them 
in the great parliamentary body which sits at the other end of the 
Capitol. The business of the bar for a time is put aside. Briefs 
and clients no longer interest him. The modest and unpretending 
country court-house, so long the scene of his patient and honorable 
labors, is overshadowed in his mind by the vast proportions of this 
great structure wherein his talents are to be exerted in the interest 
of a great nation. The stimulus of lofty and honorable ambition 
takes the place of ordinary professional promptings, and he comes 
here full of hope and heart and life, and gives his best talents and 
services to the interests of his country. 

He served with great credit to himself, and his district in the 
Forty-eighth Congress and was re- elected to the Forty-ninth Con- 
gress at a time when the dark shadows of death was almost before 
his eyes. Conscious as his people were at that time that he would 
not be able to serve them in the new Congress, with a generous ap- 
preciation of his faithful services, they decided to console the last 
hours of his life by a public indorsement of his labors here, and 
show to the world that in the approaching death of William A. 
Duncan Pennsylvania and Congress were about to lose a faithful re- 
presentative and an honest man. It is not for us to pass upon the 
wisdom of the Almighty in matters of this kind. If from Mr. 
Duncan's years, learning, industry, and honesty we are at liberty 
to infer that his death terminated a career full, with assurances of 
future usefulness, on the other hand it is possible that Providence 
interfered to save him from protracted suifering, and that, under 
the wise dispensation of the Almiglity, what appears to be our and 
his country's loss is in reality his gain. 



ADDRESS OF MB. MANDEliSON, OF IfFBlUSKA. 35 



Address of Mr. Manderson, of Nebraska. 

Mr. President. Not eventful the life iliat has closed. Spent 
amid stirring scenes and in troublous times it stands out against 
them in contrasts to be remarked. Born in that central State, the 
Keystone of the arch of Commonwealths, where — 

Pennsylvania holds the scales, 

And neither South nor North prevails — 

where politics seems to be of every day — he was not a politician. 
Living on that, wiiich one of the most stupendous events in modern 
history has made holy ground, where the strongest of human passions 
held fullest sway, and "dire was the noise of conflict," at far-famed 
Gettysburg, where " it seemed as though men fought upoTi the 
earth and fiends in upper air" — he was a quiet looker-on and not 
a soldier. 

But he "acted well his part." It comes not to every man tliat 
he shall fill a page, or require even a line, in the world's history. 
Yet the uneventful lives seem the happiest ones, and the " mute, 
inglorious Miltons" of earth are usually the ones to envy, if con- 
tent with life is its chiefest blessing. Of a genial nature, he made 
many friends, "well-springs in the wilderness," who loved him in 
life and mourn his too early death. Trained in the schools, he 
loved books, "those monuments of vanished minds," "delightful 
when prosperity happily smiles; inseparable comforters when ad- 
versity threatens." 

Well balanced and intellectual, his pursuits were those of the 
scholar and his enjoyments those of the student. He could well 

exclaim : 

My mind to me a kingdom is, 
Such perfect treasure there I find. 

Called to the bar, he became one of its leaders in his locality. 
Devoted to that "exacting mistress, the law," she gave him full 
return in a large clientage, to whose interests he was devoted. 

Of upright character, he was universally esteemed, and it came 



36 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF WILLIAM A. DUNCAN. 

naturally, from the recognition of all these commendable qualities, 
that his neighbors chose him to represent his Congressional district 
in the Forty-eighth Congress. Suffering during his term from 
that fell disease of which he died in November last, he was not 
able to place an imprint upon any of the legislation of the last 
session ; but fresh and well deserved appreciat'on of his worth 
came to him when, while upon the bed of death, he was re-elected 
to the House of Representatives. 

To me William A. Duncan was personally unknown, but 
when, at the request of a colleague who esteemed him highly, I 
looked over the detail of his life tliat I, a native of the grand old 
Commonwealth that he honored as it honored him, might pay fitting 
tribute to his memory, I was charmed with itssymmetry and could 
not but admire the features I have so feebly portrayed, A life so 
beautiful, a career so even gave promise of a useful future. 

It is most apt to depict him growing with the years of experience 
into the trusted legislator, the wise counselor, respected of all men, 
of service to the State, until with ripened age came fuller honors, 
and at last with the full allotment of years would come the end to 
the rounded life. But it was not so to be. " God's finger touched 
him and he slept." 

Mr. President, I second the adoption of the resolutions. 

The Presiding Officer. The question is on agreeing to the 
resolution submitted by the Senator from Pennsylvania [Mr. Cam- 
eron]. 

Mr. Cameron, of Pennsylvania. Before the question is put, I 
desire to state that my colleague [Mr. Mitchell], who desired to 
take and would have taken part in these proceedings, is unavoidably 
detained from the Senate to-day. 

The resolutions were agreed to unanimously ; and the Senate 
adjourned. 

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